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Monday, August 16, 2010

the verdict

Thank you all for sharing your opinions about my backing dilemma. I'm actually glad that the votes were so equally split. It made me feel so much better about my conundrum (in some odd way).

I ended up taking the dilemma to my local quilt shop over the weekend. The owner, who has FABULOUS color sense, helped me decide.

She immediately picked the quilt along quilt for the backing in question. Figures.

Then I posed the question, "What on earth do I back the spiderweb quilt with?!?!"

At this point it was urgent.

I needed to have this issue put to rest.

Immediately.

(Have you ever been there?)

The first bolt she pulled out was this polka dot with just the right shade of cream background. It's from the Martinique line by 3 Sisters from Moda. It is PERFECT! She's a genius! (I could have hugged her right on the spot. But don't worry, I didn't.) She also picked out the stripe for the binding. It wasn't an immediate favorite, but I trust her judgement. I'm sure it will be better than anything I would have picked. Now I'm left wondering why on earth I didn't ask her a year ago!

I guess I have some (a lot of) basting to do now. :)

On a personal note: My sister had her (second) little boy early this morning. He is 6 weeks early! They are all doing as well as can be expected. He's breathing on his own already, which is amazing. He just needs to learn how to eat. (I'm sure I could give him a few pointers! hee hee) He still needs a name, too. He only weighs 4 lbs 8 oz. I can't wait to see him.

And one more thing. My other sister told me this weekend that my blog is much more interesting when I don't blog about quilting. Great news there. So my blog is interesting about 1% of the time? Great. (I took it well. I actually thought it was hilarious. Gotta love that honesty from your sister.)

Congrats on your fabric finds and to your sister. My second baby was born early at 27 weeks. He was 2 and a half pounds. It was a very tough time for us, but he is doing very well now. I'm sure things will be fine for your sister's family. Have patience and faith!

Congratulations on your new nephew. Bless him to grow strong! I love your blog and everything that you put into it. It's always interesting to me. It's the first blog I have ever participated in and I check it every morning :). I just finished a ragged squared quilt last night for my friend's baby who is due in September and I was dancing around the house with glee. I would send you a picture if you could tell me how.... I don't have a blog page. Thanks!

Congrats on your new nephew!My little girl was born 6 1/2 weeks early and was also 4 lbs 8 oz. She was tube fed at first, but nursed for the first time when she was 36 hours old and then was able to practice a little bit each day. She came home when she was 12 days old. :) I hope your nephew gets lots of good eating and sleeping and growing in :).

As for you sister....(blowing raspberries). We all love your blog so don't listen to her! My mom told me she likes it better when I just post finished products since they look so much nicer than the "in process" stages! Duh! I just rolled my eyes and thanked her for the input. :)

Some people just got an eye for color. Both backings will be fabulous.(incidentially it was my choice too, he he)Congratulations on being an aunt. But 6 weeks early, that must have been a shock, luckily it sounds like he's a little figther.And finaly, I find your blog interesting 100% of the time ;-)

Ack! No! The Gruber's fabric should be the backing for the spider web quilt (COME ON!! It was made for it!), with the polka dots as a binding, and the polka dots should also be the backing for the quilt along quilt (well, maybe not based on colors in real life, but I like the dots/square juxtaposition).

oh my what a tiny little baby! your other sisters comment is pretty funny....and you have made some beautiful fabric choices for those two quilts. i love when the right one comes to you, because you just know! a wee bit like a wedding dress

I love the quilts. Well, I love all of your work!! I think your blog is fabulous! Honestly the quilting is what drew me in to your blog. I love it!! So, you can just adopt some of us as your sisters and we'll give you pep talks when you need them. :0)

Congratulations on the new nephew. Makes me think of my twins that were 6 1/2 weeks early Cory Drake weighed 4 lb. 9 oz and Cody Blake weighed 3 lb 15 oz. You couldn't tell it by looking at either of them now.....they are 9 years old. :0)

I have non quilting friends who tell me that they read my blog, but just skim through all that sewing stuff. That is a lot of skimming, but I make sure to try to mention other stuff too for their benefit. My first daughter was 5 weeks early and spent three days in the NICU. She took ages to figure out the eating thing, but she's 11 now and none the worse for all the worry we had. I hope your nephew does well.

Too funny! I think what your sister meant is that you are really fun to read when you show us your personality! (Like the I could teach him to eat comment!) Congrats and good luck to your sister and the baby. Thanks for sharing your day with us!

Hilarious!--my sister informed me of the same thing just a couple weeks ago. Less Fabric/Quilts and more kidders/family. She said maybe she would stop by and visit my blog more often if it wasn't all about fabric. Silly Girl! =)

Oh my! Happy Birth Day to your new little nephew. I'm so glad he is breathing on his own. Hope he isn't stuck at the hospital for too long. Sounds like mommy will be in a mad hunt for some preemie clothes :( Luckily they seem to catch up pretty quickly :)

I love the backing you ended up with! It looks great! At first glance I also wasn't excited about the stripes but then I looked longer and thought YES it is perfect.

That's so funny about your other sis. Should we assume that she isn't a quilter?

I check your blog EVERY DAY, and follow it and suggest it to lots of people. I find it very interesting, and get most of my quilting advice from you. Sisters do not ALWAYS have the best advice. Blog on, blog on!!!

ok this is the 3rd time trying to send this so if you get 3 other comnments, sorry. I love your blog!the reason I wanted to follo is for the quilts!. your sister may be right, but pleasse leave the quilting info. thanks mema

Ohhh... congratulations on the arrival of your nephew! My newest(and last!) one is 8 weeks old tomorrow. It's amazing how fast time flies! I love the spot... but I'm not sure about the stripe either!! I'm sure it'll all come together really well! Looking forward to seeing the end results! Enjoy that basting!! ;)

All right you went the way I was hoping you'd go with the quilts. I enjoy reading your quilt posts. There is a certain gentle ambiance about it. When I am quilting and need to slow down and think about what I am doing, I often come to your blog and just look and read even if I have read it before.

I love the backings, BUT, while I usually favor stripes for binding (an idea I stole from Alex Anderson), there are TONS of stripes. I think I'd lay a shocker color up to the quilt as binding and see if that is better. From pics, it looks like the stripe binding would be PERFECT with the QAL.About your sister...we'd all love more posts about your family too. You are very easy to love.

Hey Woman -- your blog is interesting ALL the time -- I love it when you post. LOVE LOVE the backing choices -- can't wait to see them all finished. Congratulations to your sister on the new wee little babe!

Yay for the fabric backing choices! I bet it feels good to have that settled! Congratulations to your sister on the new little one! My first baby (25years ago) was a wee 3 lb 15 oz. They still grow up mighty fast! BTW - I love reading your blog with all your quilting news!

Well, congradulations! First, on your new nephew- glad to hear he's doing good. And isn't it nice to get backing and bindings decided upon! Yes, I trust my local quilt shop owner too-- very good eye for color. And I too love the stripe for binding-- good choice. Your other sister-- don't believe her! Your blogs on quilting are very interesting. MY sister pointed out to me recently, that I only talk about quilting. I fear she's right-- ok, so I'll only talk to quilters, then I guess I'm acceptable?

I hope your sister and her baby are doing well. We're expecting a new one in our family any day now.

And if I get to share my two cents here, I love hearing about your quilting and seeing the progress of your work, but I also like hearing the little stories you sprinkle in here and there. Hearing about naming your cat helps me understand why you like help naming your quilts ;)

Oh, perfection! You have clearly received expert advice. LOL -- last summer my daughter and I were trying to choose backing fabric for quilt I was making her and we seemed to have completely opposite ideas. We went to a wonderful local fabric store, asked the owner, and she immediately grabbed the perfect bolt of fabric that my daughter and I both loved.

Congrats to your sister and her new little boy. My daughter was 6weeks early as well. She was only 4 lbs 6oz. Now, 13 years later, she is beautiful, healthy and the joy of my life. The only issue that came from her prematurity is her muscle in her left eye was weak. She wore glasses from the time she was 3 and now can wear contacts. Her eye gets better by the day.

I know your nephew will grow up to be just as handsome and healthy.

By the way, I love your blog just the way it is....and I think it is interesting. I'm just saying....

First, congrats to your sister (and you) for her new baby! - and love your other sister's honesty; that's how my brother is with me :)

Yay for resolving the backing delimma! I'm glad I was on the same page with your genius quilt shop lady for going with the quilt-along quild; the colors just work great. Ans what whe chose for your spider web quilt top is FANTASTIC. Can't wait to see the finished quilt.

Just needed to let you know that I LOVE your blog, quilting and all. In fact, your blog was the first blog that I started to follow and was so sad when you took a blogging break. So happy that you're back. Congratulations on resolving the issue with the 2 quilts. I'm sure you're relieved.

I didn't vote on which quilt for your backing, but I like the results. As for your one sister who only liked your blog 1% of the time - did she read the name of your blog??? Please let her know that there would be a lot of your blog readers lost without your instructions, quilt alongs, etc.Thanks for sharing.cindy

wow, the choices are awesome! Both will be great when done, can't wait to see:) BTW your sister is not a quilter right? lol Mine would tell me I talk too much about other things rather than just quilts.lol BTW I have a giveaway going on my blogs, check them out.hugz:)

i love the polka dot fabric - it is perfect! The whole quilt is perfect. It makes me want to not be so quick to toss my scraps. Maybe. Prayers for your sister and her new baby. and - your other sister is wrong - we love you to blog about your quilts.